MAJ Scott T. Glass
Serving in assistance positions with the US Army Reserve and Army National Guard is more of a possibility for Quartermaster soldiers now and in the future than a short time ago.
Reality Says...
Fact One: At the time of this writing, the US Army totals about 490,000 soldiers. This is down from the approximately 780,000 in the late 1980s, a decline of about 38 percent.
Fact Two: The Army National Guard and US Army Reserve now maintain significant parts of the total force’s combat service support (CSS) capability. In the 367,000-soldier Army National Guard, about 50 percent are CSS. With any decrease in the active force structure, the CSS responsibilities of the Reserve Component (RC) are likely to increase.
Fact Three: Quartermaster officers, warrant officers, and noncommissioned officers (NCOs) are serving tours assisting RC units with readiness and training. Just under 600 Quartermasters serve in RC assistance duties. This is a dramatic rise over several years ago and is subject to more growth.
They Are Out There...
The following chart illustrates the distribution of nearly 600 Quartermasters assisting the RC:
| Officers: | 34 | CPTs |
| 38 | MAJs | |
| 12 | LTCs | |
| 84 | Total Officers | |
| Warrant Officers: | 7 | 920A (Property Accounting Technician) |
| 6 | 920B (Supply Systems Technician) | |
| 2 | 922A (Food Service Technician) | |
| 15 | Total Warrant Officers | |
| NCOs | 492 | 77 and 92 Career Management Fields |
| TOTAL | 591 | Officers/Warrant Officers/NCOs Assisting the RC |
And Where They Can Serve...
Types of positions and the RC units being assisted vary greatly. Quartermasters serve with Readiness Groups, Resident Trainer Detachments, and Resident Training Teams. Other, more specialized positions also exist.
Readiness Groups. Readiness Groups assist US Army Reserve and Army National Guard units within a geographical area. There are 20 Readiness Groups just within the First Army’s area of concern, stretching generally from Florida to Maine to Wisconsin to Alabama. The number and specialty of Quartermaster soldiers in a Readiness Group reflects the type and missions of units the Readiness Group assists. For example, Readiness Group-Atlanta (Georgia) assists over 250 units throughout its assigned area, generally within the state of Georgia. It is authorized two Quartermaster officers and two NCOs.
Resident Trainer Detachments. Currently, 15 Army National Guard are designated as "enhanced brigades." Each has a Resident Trainer Detachment or is slated to receive one. One or two Quartermaster personnel work with each Resident Trainer Detachment. Resident Trainer Detachment teams work out of the brigade support battalion headquarters and assist subordinate units with training plans and readiness. Battalion Resident Trainer Detachments do not, as a general rule, have a mission to support more than one battalion. In certain circumstances dictated by distance from the battalion headquarters, one or two Resident Trainer Detachment team members may locate with a subordinate company.
Resident Training Team. The Resident Training Team is a smaller organization than the Resident Trainer Detachment but with a similar mission. An important difference between the Resident Training Teams and Resident Trainer Detachments is that the Resident Training Teams assist more than one battalion. Resident Training Teams usually assist battalions with specialized or multifunctional missions. The 1200th Quartermaster Battalion, a water purification unit with the Alabama National Guard, is an example of a unit with an assisting Resident Training Team. The Resident Training Team has three Quartermaster officers and three 77W (Water Treatment Specialist) NCOs to assist the 1200th Quartermaster Battalion as well as other water and supply units in the state.
Exercise Divisions, Readiness Training Brigades, service on a reserve Army-level staff and adviser positions with specific units or headquarters are more examples of assistance positions.
One of the Possibilities...
My personal experience was two years with the 148th Support Battalion Resident Trainer Detachment in the 48th Infantry Brigade (Separate), Georgia Army National Guard. The 48th is one of the enhanced brigades. The specific position was Senior Quartermaster Trainer. Although duties and responsibilities vary between assisting organizations and units assisted, some experiences from those two years might be helpful to anyone serving in or considering RC duty.
It certainly was a busy two years. During that time, the battalion mobilized for more than 30 days to execute flood relief operations in south Georgia in 1994. After the flood relief mission ended, the unit conducted its two-week annual training period. Command post exercises, logistics field training exercises, staff drills, and other "extra" training events dotted the training schedule. This was in addition to one drill per month of at least two days and the yearly two-week annual training period, all focused on an upcoming National Training Center rotation at Fort Irwin, CA, in May-June 1996.
Each of these events and operations required detailed planning, intensive preparation, specific training and flexible execution. Assisting with each one formed the heart of the battalion’s Resident Trainer Detachment mission: help the support battalion prepare for executing successful CSS operations.
The Senior Quartermaster Trainer’s duties included, but were not limited to (1) assisting the commander of the battalion’s supply and transport (S&T) company with training assessment and policy, (2) providing the same assistance to the battalion staff, (3) helping plan quality training events for the S&T company sections and the key battalion staff, (4) helping craft training programs for low-density support military occupational specialties (MOSs) such as mortuary affairs, water purification, ammunition handling and food service, (5) coordinating assistance from the active Army’s direct training affiliation (DTA) battalion. (In this particular instance, it was the 24th Forward Support Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA), (6) helping identify and coordinate local training area sites in the vicinity of unit hometowns to avoid time consumed by long distance moves to the nearest Army installation to train, and (7) promoting establishment of habitual training/support relationships the support battalion was likely to exercise in wartime.
It Works This Way...
Following these rules may help if you are now serving in, headed for, or considering RC duty:
DEVOTE QUALITY TIME TO ANTICIPATING SITUATIONS BEFORE THEY BECOME PROBLEMS. Problems waste time. Use your experience to help the RC see and avoid or plan around them. The RC already has limited training time, less than 40 days per year. It can afford to waste none of its time.
INTEGRATE SUPPORT UNITS INTO RC TRAINING PLANS, EVENTS AND OPERATIONS. It is surprising the number of units, both AC and RC, that do not routinely exercise wartime support relationships. Make it routine in the unit you assist. These relationships take a long time to develop and refine. Remember, if the unit is mobilized, sufficient time may be lacking to address this critical area. If integration is not happening, recommend ways to get it going and sustain it.
REMEMBER WHO THE COMMANDER IS AND NEVER FORGET WHO IS NOT THE COMMANDER. All RC units have chains of command that must be respected and supported. If RC soldiers habitually look to you for direct guidance and you are giving it, then something is broken somewhere. Do not expect a favorable situation to develop if you do not support the chain of command as part of your assistance mission. Remember, you will need the RC chain of command’s support to be effective.
KEEP WHO YOU SUPPORT WELL INFORMED. Ensure that the commander and staff you are assisting know the details of assistance work you have underway. Be certain that they approve of the scope, target audience and goal of your assistance projects.
REMEMBER THAT THE BEST SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM MIGHT NOT BE YOURS. Be prepared to accept the concept that RC soldiers you deal with are just as competent as you think you are. Be content to contribute to overall success instead of making yourself responsible for the whole picture. Your suggestions and recommendations for improvements might not be accepted. However, if they are listened to and considered, that is in and of itself a major assistance landmark.
KEEP A PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR COUNTERPART. My counterpart was the S&T company commander. During my company command, an officer of equal rank looking at all parts of my company operations and giving me observations and advice would have been, at best, awkward for me. Be aware that it might be awkward for your RC counterpart and act accordingly. Build a good two-way communication system and use it. Earn and keep your counterpart’s trust. In time, your comments will be eagerly solicited.
WORK CLOSELY WITH THE ASSISTED UNIT S3. Policy required that the Resident Trainer Detachment work out of the RC battalion headquarters. It made sense to operate out of the same office as the battalion S3. Working next to the full-time trainers in the S3 was a cornerstone of every successful plan and operation.
DO NOT TRY TO FOOL ANYBODY: THEY WILL FIND OUT. Soldiers in AC/RC assignments are often pleasantly surprised to discover that many RC soldiers are just as competent and motivated as their AC counterparts. Do not give advice and information you are unsure of just to prove you know more than they do. If it turns out be faulty, you can damage your credibility in a business where credibility is everything.
USE THE WORD "WE" AND MEAN IT WHEN YOU SAY IT. Success of the AC/RC mission is rooted in teamwork and mutual respect. If you operate in the "we versus they" mode, success will come hard, if at all.
REMEMBER THAT EACH DAY BRINGS THE NEXT WAR 24 HOURS CLOSER. If another conflict similar to the scale of Desert Shield/Storm occurs, the wide-scale commitment of major RC units can hardly be avoided. It will happen and it is only a matter of time before it does. See what needs to be done and recommend it. In the same breath, tell the RC unit what you will do to assist.
The Challenge
For me, service with the RC was an extremely challenging and professionally rewarding experience. I would not characterize the duties as easy. Instead, nearly every day brought a new challenge to use my abilities to assist the unit. It is a job where AC to RC Quartermasters can have an enormous positive impact on a unit’s readiness and logistics warfighting capability.
RC duty is an excellent opportunity to exercise your skills and experience. If selected for or receive consideration for RC duty, think it over carefully. To win the next conflict, the Army needs Quartermasters fluent in RC units and operations. In the next large-scale conflict, the RC will have a significant role. Do you have the skills and experience necessary for helping forge that winning team?
MAJ Scott T. Glass is the S3 of the 22d Area Support Group, Vicenza, Italy. He formerly was the Senior Quartermaster Trainer with the Resident Trainer Detachment, 48th Infantry Brigade, Fort Stewart, Georgia; Commander, Headquarters and Service Company, 528th Special Operations Support Battalion (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and also was Battalion S2/3. His other assignments include Maintenance Company Executive Officer and 201st Forward Support Battalion S2/3, 1st Infantry Division; Assistant Plans/Operations Officer, G4, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Saudi Arabia; and Division Support Command S1, 82d Airborne Division. He is a graduate of the Armor Officer Basic and Quartermaster Officer Advanced Courses, the Mortar Platoon Officer’s Course, Parachute Rigger and Jumpmaster Schools. He has a bachelor of arts degree in geography from the University of Georgia and a master of arts degree in human resources development from Webster University in Missouri.